Before & After: Diana Made a Big Entryway Impact by Painting This Overlooked Spot
The home Diana shares with her husband and daughter in Chattanooga, TN, is casual and welcoming, with modern touches and boho flair against a calming neutral palette. But when it came to the home’s entrance, the effect was too neutral: The dark wood door and stair rail and white walls were a bland greeting to an otherwise personality-filled space.
Watch: Diana’s “Tools to Bend the Rules”
It’s an unspoken rule that architectural details like stair rails and window trim should retain their natural colors, but why not have as much fun with them as you would with your walls? These little nooks and crannies are the very definition of pops of color—little opportunities for big impact.
Fortunately, Diana is passionate about interior design and was game to break “the rules,” so she was all in to pep up her entrance with paint. “A lot of people are afraid to bend the rules or take a risk in home-styling and design,” she told us, “but it’s just paint. So why not try?” What’s more, she loved the idea of making a visual statement she hadn’t seen in any of her friends’ homes.
Diana knew she wanted to play off the green tones in her kitchen and elsewhere in her home. To find the right hue, she used the ColorSnap® Visualizer app by Sherwin-Williams®: With the app’s “Explore Color” feature, she was able to browse the full rainbow of greens, create a customized swatch of favorites, and see how they would look in her space. The winner: Amalfi SW 6783, a rich blue-green that reminded Diana of coastal skies and the shores of Maine, where she and her husband lived before moving to Chattanooga.
Since Diana’s stairwell is enclosed, we also painted the interior of her front door in the same color to give this new paint job the dramatic entrance it deserved. We love how the bright trim now commands attention but still complements her relaxed aesthetic. “It’s bold but also soothing,” she says.
What unspoken rules are you ready to break in your space? The paint experts at Sherwin-Williams can help turn your visions into reality, with color selection tools like the ColorSnap® Visualizer and premium paints that unlock every room’s possibilities.
